is drink driving illegal?

I was always led to believe that it was illegal to have open alcohol in the front of a moving car. It is something a copper mentioned to me after finding a half drunk bottle of wkd on the floor of my passenger footwell, left by my friends I'd dropped at the pub not 10 minutes earlier.

He did not want to do anything, he merely claimed to be offering me advice for future reference.
 
ShakenNstirred said:
why would you want to drink booze while driving is the question lol
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I did it once after my A-levels had finished and I was on my way down to Newquay. Not clever and I wouldn't do it now, but at the time it felt like a fun thing to do because it was a blazing hot day, exams were finished, and the sea and surf were beckoning. Good times.
 
d_brennen said:
I believe anything which can be seen as distracting is technically driving without due care and attention (nice and vague that). A mate of mine took a really mind boggling photo of a guy sat at lights with a can of larger between is legs, this at 6am ish in Enfield
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That's so dangerous, a can of larger usually fits perfectly in a cup holder... :p
 
EliotG said:
If this was in response to me; If I'm going in. Straight line, eyes on the road and on my mirrors, I'd only be driving one handed most of the time anyway, so what difference does it make?
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Why don't you drive properly when not consuming revolting crap from McD?
 
ShiWarrior said:
it is illegal to drink or eat or use phones at the wheel with the engine running
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This is incorrect. There is no law that prevents you from eating or drinking whilst at the wheel, provided you do so at an appropriate time (i.e. swigging from a water bottle on a straight stretch of road, or stopped at the lights is fine; but they might take a dim view of doing so whilst navigating a roundabout).
 
Mr Jack said:
This is incorrect. There is no law that prevents you from eating or drinking whilst at the wheel, provided you do so at an appropriate time (i.e. swigging from a water bottle on a straight stretch of road, or stopped at the lights is fine; but they might take a dim view of doing so whilst navigating a roundabout).
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A woman in Bristol got done for drinking water while sat at a red lights a while back... :( I guess you could say the rules are open to interpretation...
 
I distinctly remember a quote from a judge who did a woman for drinking from a bottle whilst going round a blind corner something along the lines of "it's perfectly reasonable not to have both hands on the wheel at some times, such as to drink or adjust the radio, but to do so whilst going round a blind bend was reckless" but I can't find it either :(

Mind you I also have a vague memory of a woman who was charged because she took both hands of the wheel while stopped at the traffic lights to retie her ponytail.

Hmm...
 
What's the craic if you have loads of mates in the car drinking, but you're not. I'm sure I remember reading somthing along the lines of 'no open alcohol container is allowed' or something along those lines...
 
Would it be illegal to drive while drinking from one of these? :D

jpvl8n.jpg
 
TheDean said:
What's the craic if you have loads of mates in the car drinking, but you're not. I'm sure I remember reading somthing along the lines of 'no open alcohol container is allowed' or something along those lines...
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Certainly no law about open alcohol containers in the UK.
 
It's not illegal to drink a beverage while driving if you do it safely. But I wonder if the mere fact of that beverage being alcoholic constitutes driving without due care?

You're not going to win anyone's respect, that's for sure...
 
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